Francesca Crisante, Research Officer at the NHF, began the National Smaller Housing Associations Conference 2025. She led a breakfast briefing on temporary accommodations stays and the social housing supply. The value of a having a long-term affordable home is higher than ever. One large factor, Francesca explained is due to the unaffordability of the private sector.

Our first main session was a panel on the long-term housing strategy. Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the NHF, welcomed that the government had pulled “many leavers” to improve the supply of social homes. But emphasised that our sector needs certainty over rent convergent in January. Miranda Foster, Homes England, pointed out the flexibility in the Social and Affordable Homes Programme for rural, supported and older person’s housing. Smaller providers should not be discouraged by the process for this reason.

After this we spoke about evidencing consumer standards and achieving a C1 grading. Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at Regulator of Social Housing, said that where they find issues during inspections is often around a lack of reactivity to complaints, such as poor triage. Lorraine Mealings from BCHA then generously shared their learnings from a recent inspection. Perhaps the most important takeaway is the high level of assurance boards should be able to detail and provide.

We broke out into our breakout sessions on recruitment, Awaab’s law, culture and more. In our supported housing session, our panel seemed to agree that the "patchy" understanding of supported housing continued to hinder our engagement with those outside social housing. Though Liz Jones from the National Care Forum said she ultimately believed that the Casey Commission on adult social care is an opportunity build better understanding.

After lunch, we entered a second set of breakouts including a popular session on the use of AI. Here, Beam spoke to us about their Magic Notes platform, which they developed in response to their growing amount of case work. In our session on complaints, Jenni Howell, resident at Black Country Housing shared how “small gestures can change someone’s whole experience” of reports and complaints and close the “loop” of bad feeling.

Back in the main room, we looked at the topic of community cohesion with Fiona Humphrey, Providence Row Housing, Emma Kafero, NHS and Poplar HARCA and Liz Zeidler, Centre for Thriving Places. Fiona and Emma spoke about the astonishing breath of work of their organisations. Liz described these as the “beneficial ripple effects” social housing, which often ease the pressure on other service.

In our final was called “small but mighty” in which we explored the strengths and uniqueness of smaller associations. Christian Action Housing Association’s Aniekan Umoren said that being mighty is about “unlocking the ingredients of our uniqueness and using those strengths to impact our community.” Rachael Fullwood from Lincolnshire Rural Housing Association spoke about their Big Door Knock campaign and David Chaffey from BHT Sussex shared his six factors of a small but mighty organisation.

Our excellent chair, Charmaine Simei, Chief Executive of Tuntum Housing Association, wrapped up this event with her closing remarks, thanking our sponsors Magic Notes and TLT. Across the event, the importance of smaller providers came through as it often does. But particularly the importance of being agile and responsive, whether with complaints, partnerships or culture, was a big theme in 2025.

We want to thank everyone who attended and supported this conference in 2025. You can now register your interest for next year’s event to stay in the know on bookings and the agenda.